During the operations against Pakistan in December, 1971, Flight Lieutenant Manjit Singh Dhillon flew 50 sorties amounting to 27.50 hours in Chhamb, Sakargarh and Poonch sectors. In the Jorian Sector, he evacuated a number of casualties on the 6th, 8th, 10th and 11th December, 1971. On the 7th December, 1971, while on a mission to the Chhamb sector, he had to take off from Udhampur airfield when enemy aircraft were in the vicinity, enroute he spotted another 9 enemy aircraft and by the time he came to Jorian, enemy’s air activity and artillery shelling was intense. He courageously and skillfully manipulated the helicopter at very low height and achieved the mission successfully. On the 10th December, 1971, he undertook sector reconnaissance flight all along the battle field and completed the task assigned to him despite heavy enemy fire. On the same day, he evacuated 15 casualties. On the 11th December 1971, he evacuated 8 casualties from quickly improvised Helipad in Shakargarh sector.

Throughout, Flight Lieutenant Manjit Singh Dhillon displayed gallantry, professional skill and devotion to duty of a high order.

Wing Commander Vijay Kumar Narayan Sapre was involved in planning and execution of Helicopter Operations in support of Indian Peace Keeping Force (IPKF) in Sri Lanka from the beginning. On the night of 11th/12th October 1987, Wing Commander Sapre led the night Special Heliborne operations comprising four Mi-8 aircraft. He successfully carried out the entire mission landing the troops at the designated helipad, which was under heavy fire by the militants. However, since this was a critical mission, he displayed outstanding grit and courage and completed three successful missions. Through, heavy damage was caused to his helicopter, Wing Commander Sapre quickly assessed the situation and flew back the aircraft to base with great skill.

Wing Commander VKN Sapre has flown 150 sorties in the area out of which 76 have been flown during the current hostile phase.

Wing Commander Vijay Kumar Narayan Sapre thus displayed conspicuous gallantry and professional competence in the face of militants.

On the night of 11th/12th October, 1987, Wing Commander Doraisami was the Captain of an aircraft in four-aircraft formation detailed for special mission. He carried out three successful missions for landing troops in a helipad, which was totally surrounded by the militants. The helicopter came under fire and was extensively damaged. Undaunted Wing Commander Doraisami assessed the damage and flew back the helicopter to base.

Wing Commander Daniel Rajkumar Doraisami thus displayed conspicuous gallantry in the face of militants ground firing thereby saving valuable aircraft.

On the 22nd June, 1988, Flight Lieutenant Nicodemus Manohar Samuel was detailed for a special task involving winching down of IPKF reconnaissance party in the most difficult and thickly vegetated terrain in Mullaitivu area in Sri Lanka. This operation involved hovering over an area which was expected to be infested with hard core militants. During the execution of this mission, his helicopter came under heavy ground fire from the surrounding area. However, with utmost dedication and total disregard to personal safety, Flight Lieutenant Samuel continued to hover till the recce party was retrieved by winching. In the resultant ground fire, the helicopter sustained extensive damage and some of the crew members and the troops on board were injured. In spite of being subjected to heavy ground fire, Flight Lieutenant Samuel kept his cool and continued to fly his helicopter in the damaged condition till his mission was completed. He also displayed excellent airmanship by correctly assessing the damage caused to the helicopter and flying this crippled machine safely to the nearest helipad, thereby avoiding further damage to his helicopter and also to render immediate medical aid to the injured troops/crew.

In the whole operation, Flight Lieutenant Nicodemus Manohar Samuel showed courage and professional skill of extremely high order, with total disregard to personal safety in the face of the militants.